Playing cards



1y characterized plps on provided with dinary card value to thelowermost index at theleft Patented Sept. 1, 1925.

ED'XITABLD W. HGCARROLL, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

rmxme cums. 1

Application fled Kay 23, 1924. Serial No. 715,323.

To all whom it may comem:

Be it known that I, EDWARD W. MCCAR- ROLL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in ,the county of Allegheny andState of Pennsylvania, have invented a. new and useful Improvement inPlaying Cards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to playing cards, and has for an object theprovision of a pack or deck of cards which while conforming so nearly tothe standard conventional deck of playing cards as to readily lenditselfto all of the urposes and games for which ordinary p aying'cardsare used, at the same time enables any player at will to modify or varythe game by choosing to play his hand under alternative suits and cardvalues.

It is a special object to provide a pack or deck of playing cards ofthis character which may be used with either of the selected suit andcard values at the option of the player, regardless which end of thecards are positioned uppermost, without changing the relativedisposition of the differentthe face of the respective cards, andwithout in any way altering the character of play in accordance withwell known conventional rules after the selection has been made.

It is a further special object to provide a deck of playing cards eachcard of which is means for designating alternative suits and cardvalues, with the pips so arranged as to ada t it for use in the mannerabove describe which, in addition lendsitself for use as an ordinarydeck having but one suit and card value for each card by blocking off avisual representation.

of a standard playing card upon each card of the improved deck.

These and other objects of the invention will more fully appear whentaken in conjunction with the following description and the appendedclaims.

Figs. 1 to 4.- of the drawings illustrate four cards of a deck or packembodying the invention, showing several com inations of selective suitsand card values with the preferred disposition of the indexes and pips,together with the representation of the orcorresponding in suit and cardhand margin of each card.

In the drawings 1, 2, 3 and 4; designate, respectively, four cards ofthe complete implaying proved deck or pack, it being contemplate usingthe customary number of 52 cards, divlded into four suits with thethirteen cards of each suit varying in card value in accordance with theordinary symbols ace, king, numerals 10 to 2 taken in order andidentifymg the various suits as hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, allin a well known fashion.

All of the cards are rectangular in shape and of the same size, and eachis provided with a ruled ofl rectangular space at its.

center in which is a representation of one card of an ordinary pack ordeck. For instance, the central space 5 of Fig. 1 contains aconventional representation of the live of clubs. Similarly cards 2 to4, respectively, contain representations of the three of diamonds, theeight of spades and the seven of hearts All of the pips comprising theserepresentations, as well as the pips comprising the indexes to bedescribed hereinafter more at length, conform in character queen andknave, and the successive to those in common use on ordinary playingcards, and the arrangement of the pips within the centrally disposedspaces 5 corresponds to the conventional disposition ordinarilyemployed.

By disregarding the pips spaced without the central spaces and observingmerely the representation within the spaces, it is obvious' that thepack may be readily used in the same manner as an ordinary pack ofcards, and in the same way regardless which end of the cards arepositioned uppermost.

Arranged at each side margin of each card are a plurality of indexesdesignating a plurality of selective suits and card values. As shown inFig. 1, there are indexes 6 and 7 in the left hand margin and acorresponding number of indexes 6 and 7 in the right hand margin. All ofthese indexes are comprised by pips of familiar characteristics,indicating a suit and a card value of the card for that suit. Theindexes 6 and 6', as well as the indexes 7, 7 are identical, with theexception that they are reversely.

I the upper and lower ends of the card while indexes adjacent the theindex in both groups indicating the five of clubs lies nearer thismid-point. Because of this arrangement, it is immaterial which end ofthe card is positioned uppermost so far as the resulting relativedisposition of the indexes are concerned. In other words, the samegeneral appearance is present whether the index 6 or the index 6occupies the upper left hand corner of the card. Therefore, the playercan play either the heart or the club suit with equal facility and easeirrespective of the narrow end of the card forming the top thereof.

The description thus far has been directed particularly to the detailsof the card shown in Fig. 1, but since the same features and arrangementare observed in respect to each of the cards comprising the entire pack,it will be unnecessary to relate the details of the remaining cardsillustrated in Figs. 2 to 4.

It is understood that each of the cards of the entire pack isconstructed as described to provide a plurality of selective suits andcard values on its face, but that the combination of suits and cardvalues of every card is different from that of every other card of thepack, and that at'least two indexes of the character shown at 6, 7 and6, 7 appear upon each card, and are divided into at least two groupswith the indexes of each, group arranged in reverse order.-

Preferably, a red suit, either hearts or diamonds, will be combined witha black suit, either. spades or clubs, for the purpose of visuallycontrasting the several suits. However, this is not an essential featureof the invention. It is also obvious that no special card value "of aspecific suit need be combined with a special card value of anothersuit, the combination of any two suits with any two card valuesbeing'within the contemplated scope-of the invention. The combinationsshown in the drawings are therefore intended merely as illustrative ofsome of the combinations which may be adopted. 7

In use, the cards are dealt in the usual fashion and may be played, bydisregarding the marginal indexes, in the customary way, each cardhaving the suit and card value shown in the central space 5. In order tovary the game, however, it is intended to permit the player having thefirst voice in naming a suit, bid, etc. to choose whether he wishes toplay the hand in accordance with the suit and card values represented bythe ends of the cards, or in accordance with the suit and card valuesrepresented by one of the remaining sets of indexes. For example, withcards as illustrated in the drawings, the player may choose to play thehand containing the ace of hearts,

monds, the four of clubs, etc. rather than as the ten of spades, thethree of diaa hand containing the five of clubs, the three of diamonds,the eight of spades and the seven of hearts, etc.

WVhenever the improved pack is used for the game of poker, it isintended to permit every player to consider his hand in accord ance withany of the suit and card values shown on his cards, at any stage of thegame, and for any of the usual purposes, but he must elect definitely toconsider the hand in accordance with one particular set of indexes. Inother words, each player may elect a preferred indexfor his hand at anystage, but with the cards shown in the drawings, must choose between theouter or the inner set of indexes. He cannot consider one card accordingto the outer indexes and another card according to the inner indexes,but must elect to play his entirenumber of cards according to one set orthe other. For instance, if one player calls, he may then elect one setof indexes, and likewise the remaining players required to show theirhands may also, elect the set of indexes preferred by them for theirrespective hands.

By permitting such an election on the part of the player, the results ofthe game being played may be entirely modified, without in any waydeparting from the rules ordinarily used for the game, and due to thearrangement of the indexes in the manner described, the cards may beconveniently employed for this purpose regardless of which end of thecard is positioned uppermost.

As previously noted, a pack of fifty-two cards, comprising combinationsof four conventional suits, each suit having thirteen cards of differentcard values, constitutes the preferred embodiment of the invention.However, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention beyondthat particularly defined by the appended claims.

I. claim:

1. A pack of playing cards each card of which is provided with aplurality of selec-.

tivesuits and card values on its face, a plurality of difl'eren'tlycharacterized indexes designating each suit and card value, each indexof the same character occupying the same relative position on the cardregardless of which end of the card is positioned uppermost.

2. A pack of playing cards each card of which is provided on its facewith indexes designating a plurality of selective suits and card values,identical indexes value, all of the indexes being so disposid withrespect to each other that identical indexes occupy the same relativepositions on the face of the card regardless of which end of thecard ispositioned uppermost.

3. A pack of playing cards each card of which is provided on its facewith indexes there being a plurality of j for each suit and carddesignating a plurality of selective suits and card'values, there beinga plurality of identical indexes for each suit and card value, saidindexes being arranged in a plurality of similar groups with the orderof the indexels in respective groups reversely arran 'e L A packofplaying cards comprising a plurality of rectangular cards of equalsize, each card being provided with a plurality of selective suits andcard values on its face, indexes designating the several suits and cardvalues arranged in similar groups at the opposite side margins of thecard, there being a pair of identical indexes for each suit and cardvalue, the indexes comprising each group being reversely arrangedwhereby the several indexes occupy the same relative position on theface of the card regardless of the end positioned uppermost.

5. A pack of playing cards comprising a plurality of rectangular cardsof equal size, each card being provided with a plurality of selectivesuits and card values on its face, indexes designating the several suitsand card values arranged in similar groups at the opposite side marginsof the card, there being a pair of identical indexes for each suit andcard value, identical indexes being disposed at diagonally oppositecorners of the card with the groups symmetrically disposed, and theindexes of each group arranged in reverse order.

6. A pack of playing cards comprising a plurality of rectangular cardsof equal size, each card being provided with a plurality of selectivesuits and card values on its face, indexes designating the several suitsand card values arranged in similar groups at the opposite side marginsof the card, there being a pair of identical indexes for each suit andcard value, identical indexes being disposed at diagonally oppositecorners of the card with the groups symmetrically disposed, the indexesof each group being arranged in reverse order, and a ruled rectangularspace at the center of each card containing a representation of anordinary playing card corresponding in suit and card value to thelowermost index at the left hand margin of the card.

7 A pack of playing cards each card of which is provided on its facewith indexes designating a plurality of selective suits and card values,there being a plurality of identical indexes for each suit and cardvalue, said indexes being arranged in a plurality of similar groups withthe order of the indexes in respective groups reversely arranged, thenumber of cards in the pack and the number and variety of indexesequalling that of an ordinary pack of playing cards.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

EDVARD W. MoCARROLL.

